David Jeffrey's sound advice

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You may know David Jeffrey as co-founder of local bluegrass group Grass It Up, or from his previous day job selling advertising at the Independent, or from his current career as a mortgage loan originator. “Or most likely,” he says, “they don’t know me at all, which, according to some people, could be a good thing.”

An accomplished singer, songwriter and mandolin player, Jeffrey grew up in Alabama, served six years in the National Guard, graduated from the Atlanta Institute of Music, and relocated to Colorado in 2004. He and his band have since recorded six albums, while playing countless gigs at Western Jubilee Warehouse, the Governor’s Mansion, The Broadmoor, MeadowGrass and numerous bluegrass and mountain-town festivals across the country.

When not doing any of the above, he can be found fly-fishing in the mountains for elusive brown trout and spending time with his 4-year-old daughter, Molly.

Essential Saturday night listening: Nineties grunge rock. Some of my favorites are Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Alice in Chains. The sad part is that, once you start listening to them all back-to-back, you realize how much they blatantly ripped off Kurt Cobain and Nirvana.

Essential Sunday morning listening: David Grisman, Jerry Garcia and Tony Rice’s Pizza Tapes. These guys are the main reason I started playing bluegrass. My buddy Shannon Carr and I made it a point to learn several songs off the record, like “Shady Grove” and “Man of Constant Sorrow,” which are both bluegrass standards. It’s good, easy listening for a quiet Sunday morning.

First record I bought with my own money: I joined Columbia House for one penny to get albums by Pantera, Slayer, Black Sabbath and AC/DC.

My latest online discovery: Molly Tuttle. That woman can shred the acoustic guitar, sing like a bird, and make it look like it all happened completely naturally. She was born to play.

Artist more people should know about: Bill Monroe, the bluegrass legend. Unfortunately, most anybody out there on the street would not be able to tell me who Bill Monroe is. He was the mandolinist, songwriter, singer and baseball-playing powerhouse who basically invented modern bluegrass. His band would roll through town, set up a massive tent for concerts and then usually kick the local baseball team’s ass before that night’s concert.

Guilty pleasure: I really love to buy old U.S. coins off eBay. Nothing to do with music, but it’s fun.